DeSimone’s barrage leads Archbishop Carroll past Archbishop Wood in PIAA-5A quarters
MARPLE >> Mary DeSimone really wanted to make Archbishop Wood pay.
Within the first few possessions of Saturday’s PIAA 5A girls basketball quarterfinal against Wood, the Archbishop Carroll senior saw the Vikings were leaving her open, daring her to beat them. DeSimone used it as fuel and then torched Wood.
Behind DeSimone’s blistering shooting and another sterling game from Erin Sweeny, the Patriots beat the Vikings for the third time, with the 63-48 win at Cardinal O’Hara sending Carroll to the state semifinals for the second straight year.
“It makes you a little angry,” DeSimone said. “All you can do it shoot it and prove them wrong.”
The Patriots will tangle with District 11 champion Southern Lehigh in Tuesday’s semifinal round.
Carroll almost couldn’t miss in the first half and the Patriots scorched the O’Hara nets for 8-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc. Nobody was more prolific than DeSimone, who hit 4-of-5 in the first half from three as part of a 16-point, 5-of-6 shooting afternoon.
Sweeney also drilled a pair of treys in the first half, Grace O’Neill had one and Karli Dougherty also connected from deep before halftime. The torrid shooting, combined with Carroll’s pressure defense getting Wood to give the ball up a couple times started things in the Patriots’ favor.
“Mary DeSimone was the difference, we wanted her to shoot the ball, she shot it and she made them,” Wood coach Mike McDonald said. “They made a lot of shots, we started off ok, it looked like it was going to be a good game then we had some bad turnovers, just throwing it to the other team.
“We got down a lot and it was playing catch-up like at the Palestra, they pressed the entire game. They did a great job, it wasn’t our best.”
Wood got a strong start, with freshman Ryanne Allen scoring on three straight post-ups, but after DeSimone drew a foul with 5:14 left in the first quarter, it was all Carroll. The guard split her foul shots, but the real turning point came 17 seconds later when DeSimone cashed in the first of her five 3-pointers.
Good shooters always know when they’re on and they usually know pretty quick. DeSimone knew right away.
“After I made the first one, I told myself I was going to shoot some more,” DeSimone said.
“If she’s wide-open, we know she can hit those shots,” Sweeney added. “Even if the other team doesn’t think she can make them, we do so we’re going to give her the ball.”
The free throw and three kicked off a 15-5 run to close the first quarter, with DeSimone draining a triple with 3.5 left in the frame. Sweeney got three the more traditional way to start the second and the next six Carroll points came from two DeSimone triples as the Patriots suddenly found themselves up 26-14.
It would have been worse for Wood if sophomore Lindsay Tretter hadn’t been matching DeSimone shot for shot. Tretter, who came off the bench, had 12 of her team-high 16 in the first half on 4-of-4 shooting from distance but noted her team just couldn’t slow Carroll’s roll.
“We didn’t expect some of their girls to hit as many threes as they did and it’s hard when they’re making everything and we’re not making our shots,” Tretter said. “We started to not help as much and had to man-to-man more.”
DeSimone led all scorers with 13 points at the break after hitting back-to-back threes about a minute apart for a 36-20 lead. Her last make of the day came early in the third, staking Carroll to a 39-23 edge.
Sweeney and O’Neill had it from there. A junior, Sweeney led all scorers with 19 points, adding three steals and two blocks as she’s continued to grow into the role of go-to scorer. O’Neill, a freshman, ended with 15 points and four steals.
“We moved the ball really well today,” Sweeney said. “We’re not afraid to take the shots if we’re open.”
Allen was Wood’s only other player in double figures, finishing with 12 points.
Both teams are well-stocked for the next few years but after three losses to Carroll this season, the Vikings know they have a lot of work to do before next season.
“We want to win PCL and states again, so we want to work hard every day,” Tretter said. “Whether we’re at an open gym or practice for our AAU teams, we’re going to try and make ourselves so much better.”
Saturday’s loss snapped Wood’s streak of appearing in every state final since 2014. Wood had made it to the championship game in nine of the last 10 seasons.
The Vikings say goodbye to four seniors – Ryleigh Parsons, Elizabeth Fasti, Mia Andrews and Annie Whalen – who may not have been the most prolific scorers but left an indelible imprint on the program.
“Ryleigh Parsons drew us into a huddle in the locker room and she just told us she loved us so much and she was proud of us,” Tretter said. “We’re like a second family, we’re proud of each other and we love each other that much.”
Carroll got knocked out in the semifinals last season, graduating their leading scorer Molly Masciantonio in the process. Filling that role took some work, but Sweeney’s filled it very well and her teammates have filled in around her.
While Wood went through a lot of growth as a team this season, so did the Patriots.
“It was kind of rough in the start of the season,” DeSimone said. “We realized we all could play. We showed in practice all the time, so we had to show it on the court as well.”
“We just go into games with the confidence we’re good and we can win if we play together,” Sweeney said.
ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 63, ARCHBISHOP WOOD 48
ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 17 19 11 16 – 63
ARCHBISHOP WOOD 11 11 8 18 – 48
Archbishop Carroll: Erin Sweeny 5 7-10 19, Mary DeSimone 5 1-2 16, Grace O’Neill 3 7-8 15, Harlem Jennings 2 2-5 6, Karli Dougherty 2 0-0 5, Nikki Mostardi 0 2-2 2. Totals: 17 19-27 63.
Archbishop Wood: Lindsay Tretter 5 2-2 16, Kaitlyn Orihel 2 0-0 4, Ryanne Allen 4 3-4 12, Annie Whalen 4 0-0 8, Noelle Baxter 2 3-3 8. Totals: 17 8-9 48.
3-pointers: AC – DeSimone 5, O’Neill 2, Sweeney 2, Dougherty, AW – Tretter 4, Baxter, Allen.
